Apple beat Google to Lala deal after failed bid for AdMob - report

Google was in serous discussions with music streaming service Lala before it was sold to Apple earlier this month.

Google and Apple have been battling to purchase some of the same companies in an attempt to gain leverage in the highly competitive tech sector. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google had been in serious talks with online music streaming company La La Media Inc. before Apple closed the $85 million deal earlier this month.

In November, Google purchased mobile advertiser AdMob Inc. for $750 million in a deal that trumped Apple's rumored attempts at acquiring the company. The Wall Street Journal's sources indicate Apple wanted to acquire AdMob as a defensive tactic to keep Google from obtaining inside knowledge about the workings of the App Store.

Both companies find themselves growing in ways that have begun to overlap with each other, creating competition where none had existed before. As Google has branched out from search to become a player in the mobile, desktop, and media arenas - Apple has grown from a hardware and software company into a content provider and mobile powerhouse.

The companies have become so competitive that Google's CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple's Board of Directors in August. At that time Apple CEO Steve Jobs commented, "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest."

Both Google and Apple are awash in cash, with $22 and $34 billion respectively, meaning that both have the resources to continue to compete over promising new technologies and companies that would bolster their positions in the market.

The WSJ reports, "More acquisitions could be in the works as Silicon Valley deal making heats up overall. As the worst of the recession appears to have passed, tech companies are eager to pick up promising technologies before prices climb."

It's just a matter of time before Apple enters the search business, and then it will be a full-blown official war between these two. How quickly times can change. One day they are the best of friends, and the next they couldn't have a bigger enemy.

It's just a matter of time before Apple enters the search business, and then it will be a full-blown official war between these two. How quickly times can change. One day they are the best of friends, and the next they couldn't have a bigger enemy.

The perception that Apple and Google were the best of friends has always been a fallacy.

The perception that Apple and Google were the best of friends has always been a fallacy.

They were allies against bigger players. No more, no less.

Apple isn't stupid enough to go up against Google, nor do they have to.

Ballmer on the other hand, sees Apple's and Google's business models apparently garner them money, so he tries to copy them and leverage his monopoly on the desktop (which is failing) to try and be competitive, miserably.

Apple isn't stupid enough to go up against Google, nor do they have to.

Ballmer on the other hand, sees Apple's and Google's business models apparently garner them money, so he tries to copy them and leverage his monopoly on the desktop (which is failing) to try and be competitive, miserably.

Why wouldn't Apple go up against Google?

The way I see it, I think Apple should make their OWN search engine and make it better than google and bing combined.

Mr. Jobs has a habit of seeing something, and making it 10x better. If I was him right now, I would do this:

1. Ban ads inside apps and use the excuse "We take 30% of all profits from paid apps, if they are free than we don't get any money". That will kill Google's investment in AdMob before they even profit from it.
2. Use Lala's music streaming to let people access their music from the cloud without needing to download and sync it everywhere.
3. Make our own search engine that has better features than other search engines. Use it to search iTunes too for music (something Google and MS can't compete with).
4. Look into technology that would be helpful to Google, and then buy it before they can.

In November, Google purchased mobile advertiser AdMob Inc. for $750 million in a deal that trumped Apple's rumored attempts at acquiring the company. The Wall Street Journal's sources indicate Apple wanted to acquire AdMob as a defensive tactic to keep Google from obtaining inside knowledge about the workings of the App Store.

Three quarters of a billion dollars just to keep Google from getting "inside knowledge about the workings of the App Store"? I'm sorry, that doesn't sound very plausible.

It's just a matter of time before Apple enters the search business, and then it will be a full-blown official war between these two. How quickly times can change. One day they are the best of friends, and the next they couldn't have a bigger enemy.

They are frienemies.

Apple won't ever enter search as you know it today. If you own the largest app and music store you have a means for making money on ads. I'm surprised Apple hasn't turned some coin on the iTMS as of yet with ads. Maybe the Lala deal will help with that.

I'm sure Eric was privy to Apple's acquisition list and ran off with it.